‘I’m hoping that if I’m right—if dragons do steal magic—then maybe we can learn enough to stop that and to protect the other Divines. There is something seriously broken in the relationship between dragons and riders, and I want to fix that.’
‘You think we’re broken?’Landers asked, his sorrow coming through.
‘No. But with them, I know something is broken. They’re scared to meet their mates, and the ones who have already dealt with their mates won’t be able to come back from that loss. Their magic was drained that thoroughly. I don’t want to see more Divines end up like them.’
‘And if it’s the Fae who take their magic, and they really are all brain-washed?’Philit asked.
‘Then we kill all the Fae and liberate the Divines,’I finished.
I knew saying it like that was giving Philit exactly what he needed. He had such an elevated sense of right and wrong, of how the order of things should be. And he truly wanted to be a hero, the guy in the middle of battle who was fighting for something greater. I needed to give him something, so I did.
Frankly, if he was right about the Fae brainwashing the Divines to think as they did, then I’d be more than happy to liberate them from such control. I’d grown to care for those Divines. If they were in danger, I couldn’t leave them there like that.
‘Fine. We’ll go,’Philit said.
I nearly jumped in the air. If we hadn’t been flying, I probably would have, but I really liked having my ass parked on a dragon while we flew. It was silly to think being so high up scared the crap out of me and only having a dragon underneath me helped me feel safe. But it was no less true.
Philit changed directions, heading hopefully toward the Fae. Nervousness and excitement filled me up, making me almost giddy. And hope too.Answers. I was hoping to get more answers.
19
Philit brought us back into the same courtyard we’d escaped from. By the time we’d returned, only half a day had passed. I was exhausted, ready to crawl into bed and sleep. I had used up so much magic today.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy as the dragons shifted into their humanoid forms in the air, and the Fae gathered below, ready to attack.
“Let me go down first,” I said.
“No. We go together,” Philit said.
I sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to relent on this and only hoping it didn’t leave blood spills. As soon as we landed, the Fae tried to jump us. I sent out my lightning, hitting one of them square in the chest, and forcing him away from me. He flew back, but I knew he was going to live. I made sure my attack was more in line with shoving someone really hard.
Two Fae came forward with their javelins and tried to stab us, but Zilon and Philit stopped them, grabbing their weapons and yanking them out of their hands. Then, they broke the long poles like twigs.
“Enough!” I called out. “We aren’t here to fight. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Then why are you here?” Neyil said, stepping through the crowd. His eyes were violet like I was used to, but the rest of him had that look I’d seen when he was berating his Fae guard.
Truth was the only way to go here, so I went with it, explaining exactly what had happened. I relayed how we went back to the dragons. How the dragon king tied down my mates and tried to force a bond with me. How we fought back and escaped. I told the Fae king we wanted to learn how to work together properly.
Neyil listened, never changing his expression. Finally, I finished, drawing in a breath and feeling like I hadn’t properly taken in air the whole time as my nerves unsettled the more I talked. Only having the guys at my side helped me get it all out.
“I will allow this on one condition,” Neyil said. “You will be required to help us when the time comes to fight back. I think it has finally become clear to you that King Laskis can no longer rule.”
Neyil meant business as he spoke. He was calculating our usefulness, and I had no doubt having me and my mates on his side far exceeded his expectations. I could practically already see him planning how to utilize us in a battle.
“Only under the conditions I set,” I said.
“You think are you in a position to negotiate?” the Fae king asked.
“We will help you—” I started.
“Rayna, no,” Philit said, interrupting. “We can’t do that.”
I rested my hand on his shoulder. ‘Let me speak.’
‘This isn’t the way. We can’t fight people we know and then be expected to kill them.’
‘Please. Trust me. This is the better route,’ I sent back to Philit, trying to not let his worry cloud my emotions. ‘If we don’t do this, then we will forever be on the run. King Laskis won’t stop until he gets me. Ever. This is the better option for us.’